“We grow up with skiing. It is part of our culture, just like football is part of yours.” -- Aksell Naevdal, a Norwegian fan

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — The six fans were dressed as Vikings, which was only fitting, since their home nation is taking its halberds and axes and turning the Olympic competition into a bloody pulp.

"Three medals in 15 minutes," said smiling Erling Paulsen, looking ready to invade something in his horned helmet as he watched his countrymen and women dominate (again) in the cross-country skiing events. "Not too bad."

He didn’t say this in a gloating way, either. He actually meant it. For his country, winning three medals in 15 minutes — which is as many or more than 78 countries had in the entire Olympics up to that point — was very nice, but hardly an unexpected development.

This is the harsh reality of these Olympics, my fellow Americans. It appears more and more likely that Team USA is not going to again finish atop the overall medal standings — as it did in Vancouver. And if it doesn’t, it will probably cede the title to those Nordic Bullies, the Evil Empire of Winter Sports.

Norway.

Norway?

It really is remarkable. Norway has five million citizens, and yet there it sits, atop the medal standings. At the end of competition Wednesday, the Norwegians had 12 total medals, more than Canada (10), the Netherlands (10) and another country with 65 times the population (nine).

That country, of course, is the United States. We have come to take our athletic dominance as a birthright, but unless LeBron James learns to curl in a hurry, that could take a major hit in the coming weeks.

It would be one thing to lose to Canada, which seems to build its entire self worth on winter medals. It would be another to lose to Russia, which is the host nation and has a robust 114 million residents. Even Iceland, which at least sounds wintery.

But Norway? How do you hate Norway? Okay, a Norwegian group wrote the "What Does The Fox Say?" song, so this is a good place to start. But other than that, is it jealousy over its robust life expectancy (81 years) or average annual income ($58,810)? Or the lovely Nordic women? Or are you just a bad speller who has a fear of living in Flekkefjord, or Gjovik, or Hammerfest?

No, really. There is a town in Norway named Hammerfest. I picture an annual celebration in the fall, where all the townspeople gather to show off their favorite mallets and maces. That is pretty much hard to hate. Unless you’re a nail.

No one should be surprised at the Norwegian dominance. There was always good chance they were going to kick our rumpe, as they would say. Several pre-Olympics projections had Norway taking the overall medal count, which shouldn’t surprise us, since Norway owns the all-time medal count for the Winter Olympics.

It isn’t even close, either. Norway had 303 medals entering Sochi, or 49 more than the second-place Americans. It had more golds, more silvers, more bronzes than anyone. It has more medals than Sweden and Finland combined, so those Nordic rivalries are just a bad Norwegian joke.

(And, sadly, it appears that all Norwegian jokes are bad jokes.)

"They say in Norway that we are born with skis on our feet," Paulsen said, because this is, without fail, the first thing every Norwegian will say when asked about the Olympic dominance.

Skiing is the only reason Norway is a medal machine. When Ole Einar Bjoerndalen became the most decorated Winter Olympian with his 13th career medal here, he not only passed a Norwegian, but one whose name — Bjorn Daehlie — is so similar it sounds like an old Letterman bit.

Bjoerndalen, Bjorn Daehlie. Bjorn Daehlie, Bjoerndalen.

To say Norway is obsessed with skiing is an understatement. The skiathlon broadcast this week had a ridiculous 87 audience share — which, coincidentally, is the exact number of people in America who know what the skiathlon is.

"We grow up with skiing. It is part of our culture, just like football is part of yours," said Aksell Naevdal, who was waving the Norwegian flag during the cross-country event.

Having skiing as a national obsession gives Norway a clear advantage. There are only two gold medals in hockey, one for the men and one for the women, but 11 in the biathlon alone. We could complain about this, but they did give Michael Phelps a gold every time he touched the side of the pool, so let’s call it even.

Still, other European countries teach its children to ski at a young age, so what separates Norway? Its sports officials believe their success stems from so many families living in closer areas, where children are encouraged to play outside on even the coldest days.

So maybe that is the key, New Jersey. When it snows this morning, open the back door and kick your kids into the yard. And then let them back in around dinnertime. In eight years, you also might have a Winter Olympian in your family. Or a visit from child services.

In the meantime, be prepared to live in a world with Norway on top. There is a term for this. It’s called "Sweden."